Valuations for VC-Backed Entertainment Media Cos. Soaring

May 12, 2014

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With news surfacing that Apple is in the midst of paying up over $3 billion to acquire Beats Electronics—a company co-founded by rapper and music producer Dr. Dre (aka Andre Young)—we decided to look into the VC side of things to see how the entertainment space is faring.

Since the beginning of 2010, VC investors have completed 307 deals involving U.S.-headquartered companies in the entertainment media space, according to the PitchBook Platform. During that timeframe, the median post-money valuation of companies in the industry receiving VC funding each year increased, skyrocketing from $9.4 million in 2010 to $20.9 million in 2013. Though valuations continued to soar, it's interesting to note that after deal count each year rose significantly from 2010 to 2012, last year saw a 34% decline from the year prior. And this year is on pace to see another decline in the number of deals completed. Some of the most recent deals in the space include financings for Lively ($2 million), Kobalt ($25 million) and Machinima ($18 million).